A FORMER Lickey resident is to walk 100km of The Thames Path National Trail in memory of his baby niece.

Support worker, Iain Rowsell, 33, is raising money in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity after Lucy, his sister’s daughter, was born with rare illness which affects 1 in 1,000,000 people.

Lucy was born with no gallbladder, a twisted stomach and her spine and lungs did not form properly.

She was kept alive with a machine but died five days later on October 17, 2009 after tireless medical intervention.

Iain said: “It is one of those things I would not wish on your worst enemy but you have to take the positive of it, without what happened to my niece none of this would have happened.

“This is my way of saying thank you to all the doctors and nurses at Great Ormond Street for their help not just for my niece- for being those people who make the difficult decisions.”

In 2010, in the run up to the first anniversary of the birth and death of Lucy, Iain walked 85km of The Great Wall of China in her memory where he met his future wife Vicky.

Last year he attempted the 100km Thames path challenge but after 50km and 10 hours later, he pulled out due to an injury and his wife being heavily pregnant at the time.

Vicky and Iain now have a nine month old son called George.

Vicky said: “Iain wants to say thank you to all the staff at the hospital, for their support and professionalism at such a traumatic time for all the family, especially his sister and brother in law.”

Iain has raised just under £4,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity from the two previous challenges.

The walk, which aims to raise £375, will take place on Saturday, September 13.

Half the target, £187.50, needs to reach Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity by the 4th August to allow Iain’s walk to go ahead.

To contribute visit justgiving.com/Iain-Rowsell1/ Suggested donation £2.